Question #af702
2 Answers
30,000 people were deported and 4,000 Cherokees were deported
Explanation:
The Cherokess refused to leave their lands after gold was discovered, they resorted to the Supreme Court which ruled in their favor. The Supreme Court decision was not abided by and the Cherokees ended up being deported as part of the 1830 Indian Removal Act. In 1838 the Cherokees were moved West of the Mississippi in what is known as Oklahoma today.
The deportation occurred in appalling conditions, they were misfed and had to undergo the cold. They were quartered in concentration camps before being actually moved. The trail of tears name comes from the fact that people cried while seeing them being deported.
The Trail of Tears was shameful because it violated American ideals, American laws, American Treaties, and was violation of the rights, dignity and humanity of the Cherokee Nation.
Explanation:
The United States had long recognized the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. The United States had signed numerous treaties with the Cherokee Nations. These treaties recognized the rights of the Cherokee Nation to their land.
Taking away the land of the Cherokee violated those treaties and allowed the State of Georgia to break the word of the United States.
It was shameful that the United States would break its word and signed treaties with the Cherokee Nation.
The Cherokee nation appealed to the United States Supreme Court for redress of the laws of Georgia that were forcing the Cherokee out of their land, and giving their homes to White settlers. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation but had no power to enforce the ruling. It was shameful that the forceful removal of the Cherokee from their land was ruled unconstitutional yet it happened anyway in violation of American laws and traditions.
The American ideal is that all people have the same rights under the law. All people should be treated fairly with no favors to one group or discrimination of another group. It is shameful that the United States violated those ideals in its treatment of the Cherokee. Greedy whites were allowed to claim the wealth and lands of the Cherokee, because the Cherokee were of a foreign nation.
The Trail of Tears was shameful because of the way the Cherokee people were treated. The land was taken away in violation of their rights and American Law. The Cherokee were robbed of their land and given land in Oklahoma that they and no one else wanted. In the cold of winter the entire nation was forced to walk for months. Many died along the way. Others were forced by soldiers armed with rifles and bayonets, despite being tired cold and hungry. A proud people were treated as criminals because someone else wanted their land.
It was beyond shameful that the Cherokee could be treated so badly.
